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YourChoice Therapeutics is a biotechnology company that was one of the 2018 CITRIS Foundry Startups founded by Akash Bakshi, Nadja Mannowetz, and Polina Lishko.
One of their technologies is a “molecular condom” concept where an active compound inhibits sperm motility preventing it from fertilizing the egg.The molecular target on the sperm is CatSper, a sperm-specific calcium ion channel that initiates a motility pattern called hyperactivation needed for fertilization. The research group discovered that the extracellular protein, ABHD2 that regulates CatSper activity can be bound by the plant-derived compound lupeol. This prevents the sperm from transitioning to hyperactivation and the affected sperm are incapable of fertilizing an egg.
On January 1, 2019 YourChoice Therapeutics completed a seed funding round with $550,000 in funding from Y Combinator.
